Neu Cliffords: “We don’t want to be a great Irish band, we want to just be a great band”

It was around this time that guitarist Harry Menton and keyboardist Locon O’Toole found their way into the lineup, throwing their experience of playing locally into the mix. “[Previously] we were basically just playing in metal pubs around the city,” Locon recalls, “we’d have crowds of bikers in their patched jackets and leathers which was cool, but it wasn’t what I wanted to do forever. We went to see the original Cliffords lineup play and they were great, so when they asked us to join it was a no-brainer.”

Theirs wasn’t a path that included any secret shortcut to stardom, though. The band spent 18 months playing around Cork before breaking their way out of the city walls and into the wider Irish - and now also British - music scene. “I think I sent an email to different UK and US college radio stations every day trying to get them to play our music,” chuckles Locon, “and then we eventually got onto a Spotify playlist, and spent pretty much every day last summer meeting with industry people, which just felt like all the work had been worth it.”

Obviously, none of this would be possible if the tunes themselves weren’t truly brilliant. Debut EP ‘Strawberry Scented’ unveiled Cliffords’ ability to mix catchy arena-rock choruses (‘Sleeping With Ghosts’) with softly sung yet powerfully heartbreaking lyricism (‘Shattered Glass’) - a formula Iona first landed on as a way to untangle her thoughts.

“I wrote my first lyrics when I was about six in my bedroom,” she remembers, “but the only music I listened to was Taio Cruz on ‘Now 77’, so all the lyrics were like ‘we’re going out tonight girls’ or ‘we’re in the club’. But then, as a teenager, I loved dodie, and now my icons are Adrianne Lenker and CMAT – they’re just the most amazing storytellers – so I guess I try to write like them, but in my own voice.”

“We were consciously writing an EP this time,” he continues, “it’s got a bit more grit, it’s dirtier, it’s more focused on the band we want to be.” Iona nods: “I was less particular about lyrics this time, too. I want people to make up their own minds on the stories instead of me spelling out exactly what’s going on.”

Side by side, these two EPs - though separated by only 13 months - evidence enormous growth. Anthemic lead single ‘Bittersweet’, replete with grungy guitar lines and soaring trumpet details, contrasts beautifully with lyrical folk ballad ‘Dungarvan Bay’. Elsewhere, ‘My Favourite Monster’ tells the tale of a local villain through social analysis and boisterous choruses, while Iona’s self-proclaimed favourite ‘R&H Hall’ opens with an emotional piano line before exploding open into a folk-rock ode to their beloved Ireland.

Indeed, their Irishness is at the very heart of the band, musically and spiritually, and Iona beams with pride when talking about growing up in Cork: “Irish culture is all around you, it’s in your DNA. We learn the language in school; the music and literature and history is everywhere; even when you grow up, you see trad music sessions in pubs that anyone can join in with. You’re taught to be proud of your culture, and it’s only now we’re starting to appreciate it.”

“British people are only paying attention now because of bands like Fontaines DC, but it’s always been happening,” Locon adds. “Our government encourages music, they let people have fun in small rooms whether they’re good or not. In Britain, people don’t have the chance to be bad because there are no small rooms left to play, so [music] is only available to people who have had lessons in school or whatever; it’s just for upper-class kids.”

To have found their voice so strongly, so quickly speaks to the drive, resilience, and undeniable talent that Cliffords have. The words ‘meteoric rise’ are often overused, but in this case, the phrase sums up just how far the band have come since they stood playing covers in pubs.

“We’re always pushing ourselves to be better”, adds Locon, “and we can only do that by writing more songs. If we like an idea, we just do it again and again until it works.” Iona nods, “we always know when we’ve written a great song. We know Irish bands are being glorified or fetishised because they’re Irish. We don’t want to be a great Irish band, we want to just be a great band.”

‘Salt of the Lee’ is out now via Relentless Records. 

Tags: Features, Interviews, Neu, Cliffords, June 2025